Joy Ride

 

Office transport is quite common in Sri Lanka, especially now since it’s not safe taking public transport unless of course you want to lose an arm or a leg and if you’re lucky maybe your life. So to avoid my untimely death or lack of functioning body parts I choose to travel in a van with a driver and myriad’s of other people. While writing this I just realised that I wouldn’t want to die in an accident and I most definitely don’t want to die in India. Okay back to the story… There are certain things about the physical appearance of my van that I need to bring to your attention. It’s WHITE (for all Sri Lankans, this probably means “run for your life) it’s uncomfortable because there’s hardly leg space and the driver constantly yaps throughout the journey. In most vans the driver doesn’t communicate with the folks behind the driver’s seat but in my van the driver is the complete opposite. He talks and talks, then jabbers then talks, then lies. He insists on talking in English even though his choice of words are nothing but hilarious. One day he told us that his sister in law was “impregnated”. Then another day he told us that his friend who met with an accident “had arms and legs that was not repairable”.

My van also has a couple of other looney tunes. There’s Mrs. Always Late, Mrs. Talk A lot and Miss Nosy Parker.

Mrs. Always Late has her own way of doing things and she insists that we pamper her. She takes her own time to make it downstairs from her 3 storey apartment, then waddles to the van then takes an additional 15 minutes to waddle her way up the front seat. After she gets in, she changes the radio channel without prior consultation with the others. I can’t be bothered anymore so I listen to my I pod. Then usually after work she goes shopping and insists that the van pick her after she’s finished to waddle back with her fat ass. Or she keeps us waiting till she finishes work. After a month of putting up with her nonsense I told the driver that this has got to stop. So after severe warnings she has decided to make her waddles quick.

Mrs. Talk A Lot is nice, the problem with her is that she has an annoying voice and wants to have random chit chats.

Miss. Nosy Parker is 40 and unmarried. She has a slight tingling for the driver. He likes the attention. We’d like it if they work up a relationship simply because she’s far too interested in our lives. She wants to know whom you went home with, who that guy is, what he does, what your mother does and whole lot of other crap. So I lie. So far I’ve told her that I’m married, living with my parents, my husband’s abroad and I’m having an affair. She’s shocked beyond belief. You’d think due to our conservative nature that she would be scandalised and stop with her snooping or she’d run along and complain to my parents but instead she still keeps asking. Today it was about my weight or the lack of it. I’ve decided putting another strategy into effect. Ask her why she’s not married and maybe suggest that a husband might not be a bad thing for her.

In Theaters

Hancock- ­ Cocked up

A super hero is supposed to be a superhero! He is not supposed to be a drunken mess, who utters obscenities and doesn’t care about other people. He is supposed to hate the bad guys and he most definitely is a ’save the world’ kinda guy.

Yeah but I know they wanted to break the cliché. Did it work? No!

I’m so disappointed. Disappointed with Charlize Theron and Will Smith because I used to like them before this superhero failure. I can’t understand why in the world they would want to do a movie of this nature, it
didn’t even look like fun… ok maybe the part where Charlize unleashes her power and hurls Hancock through the wall and onto the road, crash, smack, bang into a car. Ha I would like to do that sometime. Oh and also the part where Hancock tries to check how strong she actually is. Those are the only fun parts in the whole movie. Such a shame!

The Forbidden Kingdom-­ Crap

2 questions about this movie.

Why do most Martial Art movies start in a Chinese Pawnshop in the States?

Why does the end look a lot similar to Narnia?

It was a crappy movie and I’m never gonna watch another Jackie Chan movie again.. Nuff said.

Let me recommend ‘The House of Flying Daggers’ for a real Martial Arts movie with good choreography , acting and plot.

Currently playing…

…on my I Pod

Rehab -­ Amy Winehouse

Black Horse and Cherry Tree – KT Tunstall

I’m Yours – Jason Mraz

Bubbly – Colbie Caillat

See what kind of mood I’m in…

Ink it for all its worth

Tattoos are becoming ever so popular. People ink themselves for all sorts of reasons. Some declare their undying love with a heart on their hips. Teenagers feel the best way to rebel is by emblazoning themselves on their hips, arms and wherever they think is cool. Experimentation is also a great excuse for a tattoo, like sexuality these days. Oh then there are people who do it because it makes them feel beautiful. Wonder why there’s so many fat people feeling ugly if tattoos made you feel beautiful. Sorry, it wasn’t meant to sound insensitive. Most tattoos I’ve seen are pretty hideous and sometimes it doesn’t suit the person but there are instances where I’ve seen beautiful tattoos on beautiful bodies.

I would never get a tattoo and I don’t have issues with people who have them but I think it’s an insane thing to do. It hurts. If you’re a sucker for pain or a sadomasochist then I guess it’s not a problem but what if you realize you made a mistake, which most people do if they had any sense in them. So teenagers who rebel find themselves in a quite a state 10 years later, because what they thought was cool will painfully be uncool. Who chooses a good meaningful tattoo when you’re young anyways? If they did kids won’t be that stupid now would they? Undying love? With divorces increasingly on the rise, most people would be glad they made it through their 2nd anniversary. This is the unfathomable part, when your body starts getting older, it’s bad enough having a body full of wrinkles but a tattoo that sags? Eeeuuu!!  Also what do you if you have children and want them to stay as far as possible from ink palours? Won’t  you hear the “But Mum/Dad’s you’ve got one too?”. Oh I do know that you could get tattoos removed, but it’s supposed to hurt a hellava lot more than when you did get yourself tattooed, plus a lot more cash too. So what’s the bloody point?

And I went for a Cello Ensemble

Classical music has never been a favorite of mine, it not that I don’t appreciate it…its just that I need to be in the right mood, the right ambience and if there must be company then the right kind. So an auditorium
where love starved girls giggle behind you and smart alecks who can’t pronounce ‘minor’ is just not the right ambience. The fact that I was after a stressful day at work didn’t help and the company I was with didn’t quite cut it either. So I left feeling like I shouldn’t have gone in the first place.

I was happy to see my drama teacher play, I still remember hearing her play the cello in the far corner of the academy. The only boy who was playing the cello there was absolutely stunning. Maybe one day I’ll find a boyfriend who can play an instrument (Ahem no not that instrument), it’s amazing how quick their fingers move along the strings.

While I was sitting there amongst the bad ambience and the awful sound projection I was thinking how I’m always in awe when things work to timing, whether it’s music, dance, acting or a well timed joke. At times like those I instantly jrop my daw.

In Theaters

Juno – Overrated

So I watched it. After listening to my friend’s yap about how good it was.

It was simply (yawn) boring. Maybe I’m being a little too harsh but it was boring, it was so boring I had to watch it in two couch sittings. I do agree that it was a different kind of movie but it wasn’t interesting. She seemed to me like she was making such as effort to be cool. It’s strange but I’ve always noticed that people in their early teens and late teens try really hard to be intellectual because they think that’s what’s cool. But I think it’s pathetic. The other thing about Juno that I didn’t like is how she approached the teenage pregnancy issue in such a witty way. If all high school students behave like that the world will definitely be a wonderful place in the future.

Picture this, sometime soon a teenage girl finds herself pregnant. She confronts her parents.

Girl: Mom, I’m pregnant.

Parents: What? What the hell? You’re grounded for the rest of your life!
You’ve disgraced all of us!

Girl: But Mom I can handle it.

Parents: Are you crazy?

Girl: Oh come on, if Juno did it, it’s a piece of cake.

Beware parents your kids might be strongly influenced by witty Juno because having a baby is no big deal.

21 – Cool

This is my kind of movie. Loved it. My only concern with the movie was that it could have been shot better.

Bucket List- Nice

After I dried my eyes, I was inspired to write down my bucket list.

Countries I want to visit-Greece, Egypt, Australia, Europe, America

Places I want to see – The Great Wall, Himalayas, Venice, Niagara Falls, The
Watchtower Head Office in Brooklyn and Patterson.

Things I want to witness- An International Convention, my wedding.

I’m sure there’s more to the list but I can’t think of more at the moment.

Narnia – Cool

Didn’t anyone tell Ben Barnes what his role in the movie was? I mean come on
the guy looked lost. That or he can’t act. Well apart from Prince Caspian I enjoyed the movie.

The Great Debaters – Awesome

I’ve always liked the movies with Denzel Washington, so I knew I was going to like this even before I watched it. Amazing stuff, the cast is super, the Texan drawl is fabulous and the Wiley Debate Team rocks.

Starter for 10 – Great

I think I’m beginning to love James McAvoy. The first movie of his that I watched was the Last King of Scotland. It was a good movie. Starter for 10 is especially good and I love the casting. Blonde bimbo, slightly awkward girl who is smart, geek freak boy, cute macho friend, obese friend and girlfriend’s demented parents. Watch it to believe it.

Hulk – Cool

I really liked Edward Norton’s acting, he looked so terrified that it was sweet. Ok I’m kidding. Anyway the only part I didn’t like was Liv Tyler, she seemed so fake in comparison to the animation. Sources say part 2 will star the Avengers. We’ll see.

Why do people lack faith?

I’m like a little child. Curious. I ask questions, intelligent and stupid. I argue. I find out. I mediate on it. Then I believe.

I don’t simply take things at face value, I will dig deeper until I’m convinced. Unfortunately many people like to take the easy way out. They are quick to believe something they read, watch on TV or nod in agreement at someone’s opinion.

I’m not trying have a holier than thou attitude but hear me out and decide for yourself. Let me start with my basics, I was born into a religion much like most people. I was trained to believe the things my religion taught and what my parents believed. At one stage in my life when I turned a rebellious 17 I looked at other religions. My dad used to be a Catholic and his family are all strong Catholics with a mixture of hypocrisy that seems inherent in all of them, so I decided to start there. Later on I took an avid interest in Buddhism because my best friend was a Buddhist. Soon after I started going out with a Muslim I had many questions about his faith. Since I used to live in a Hindu community I can proudly say I know a little bit about them too. That was the last leg of my journey simply because none of them offered the answers to the questions I had. Instead I could answer most of the questions that had been puzzling them. That was when I reverted back to the religion I was born into and explored it further. I realized that the answers were all there its just that I was too interested with what others were doing and saying that I didn’t look into it myself. When I did, I found satisfaction and happiness.

There are a great number of things I love about my religion, we are trained to think, ask questions, mediate on what we learn and finally begin to believe it.

Once every four months we are given a topic that we need to develop a talk on. You could decide how exactly you want to deliver it, a setting to best make use of the topic of discussion. This time I’ve been asked to talk on the subject of why people lack faith? I was excited when I first got it because I didn’t really know the answer to that question though it’s amazing how often I used to question myself about why God permits wickedness. So I did some research and was quite astounded with what came up.  One reason why people lack faith is because they don’t lack accurate bible knowledge, which is true, how often we come across people who read the bible but how well do they know what they are reading? Second, people are disillusioned with religion. The hypocrisy is just simply overwhelming and that is enough to put you off religion completely. Many people including all of the Christian sects now know that Jesus wasn’t born on the 25th of December, yet why do they keep celebrating it? I know the answer to that one, its because it’s easier to follow age-old traditions than to follow the truth, right? Oh no wait another thought popped into my head maybe the church doesn’t want to admit they were wrong and the people don’t want to point fingers at the church so ta da celebrate Christmas, easy way out eh? Third, people don’t understand why God permits wickedness. Simple, Adam and Eve sinned. Who made them sin? Satan. So we are still suffering from the after effects and Satan rules the world. Oh and the story about God needing an angel that’s why we die, it’s a fairy tale so you can stop telling that to your children. Fourth, people live their lives according to what they believe is the right thing. If we honestly knew what the right path is, why do we keep falling into potholes?

My Nana the devout Catholic goes to church every Sunday, like a prayer (sorry couldn’t help that) and when something bad happens she has the same questions like most people who lose a loved one in death, or go through some horrible experience. One day I asked her quite respectfully whether she’s learned anything at all from her years spent kneeling at the pew. You’ll be glad to know I got an earful for that. Seriously Church is much like the Sri Lankan school system, it so hard to get a decent education.

My final words on this post. Life is too short to go through doing all the wrong things. Base your faith on facts and if you know you’re doing the wrong thing, stop and correct your ways. Also find/discover the answers to your questions, but be careful from where you find the answers.